Celebration of the 1982 ascent of Mount Everest in Moscow by Congress of Climbers

Members of the 1982 expedition to Everest by climbers from the former Soviet Union (Photo: Daniel Kolodin)

Frits Vrijlandt, the new president of the UIAA – International and Mountaineering Federation was in Moscow in November at the invitation of the Russian Mountaineering Federation to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the first ascent of Mount Everest by climbers from the former Soviet Union.

Vrijlandt also met with senior officials from the Ministry of Sports of Russia, along with Andrei Volkov, president of the Russian Mountaineering Federation to discuss the development of mountaineering in Russia.

The meeting included discussion about the showcasing of ice climbing at the XXII Winter Olympic Games in 2014 in Sochi and the development of ice climbing in and around Kirov – a host city for the UIAA Ice Climbing World Tour.

The celebration of the Everest ascent billed as the Congress of Climbers was attended by more than 60 climbers from countries that were part of the former Soviet Union including Russia, Azerbaijan, Ukraine, Belarus, Lithuania, Latvia, Georgia, Moldova, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan.

Vrijlandt said the 1982 ascent up a new route on the Southwest Face to the left of the Central Gully on Mount Everest was a technically difficult route.

“It’s amazing what they did and what they accomplished,” said Vrijlandt about the Russian feat. “It is a climbing achievement that is worthy of the sport.”

Present at the gathering attended by well know mountaineers from the former Soviet Union were climbers such as Ivan Dusharin, Anatoly G. Ovchinnikov, Kazbek Valiev and Sergei Bursch.

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Founded in 1932, the UIAA is the international federation for climbing and mountaineering. The International Climbing and Mountaineering Federation (UIAA) was founded in 1932 and has a global presence on six continents representing 89 member associations and federations in 66 countries. The UIAA has been recognised by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) since 1995.